You open your mobile, you access a digital platform free and you agree with your neighbors to propose a law that solves the problems of your neighborhood. Imagine that it could be so easy to be part of a radical democracy. New York, Paris, Helsinki and Mexico City already use a public infrastructure similar that displaces the technological giants to give power to citizens. What you may find hardest to believe is that the citizen participation that those and other government institutions around the world turn to is an idea originated and developed in Barcelona.
The European Union It has had a serious problem of technological dependency for more than a decade. Although Ursula Von der Leyenpresident of the European Commissionassured during his first term that “it is not too late to achieve digital sovereignty in some critical areas”, reality contradicts these aspirations. More than 80% of European digital infrastructures are imported, mostly from USAbut also China.
Trapped between the two largest economic powers on the planet, the community bloc has resorted to digital regulation as a differentiating and external influence tool, a strategy known as the Effect Brussels. However, the threats of Donald Trump and the fear of espionage of Beijing are pushing the 27 to promote all kinds of public initiatives that are committed to open source —transparent, modifiable and free—as a formula against the concentration of power in the hands of a few private corporations.
“We cannot build technologies on private infrastructures instrumentalized by a handful of millionaires who want to destroy democracy”
The greatest expression of this turn is EuroStacka collective of academics, politicians and technologists who advocate shaping a European industrial policy that reverses dependence on Silicon Valley and advance that dream of a technologically sovereign Europe. “We cannot build technologies on private infrastructures instrumentalized by a handful of millionaires who want to destroy democracy (…) We must stand up,” warned the renowned Italian economist Francesca Briaprofessor at the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose in London, in a talk in Barcelona. Experts estimate that this transformation will last a decade and will require investments of about 300,000 million euros.
Cities, engine of change
Cities are leading this common effort to achieve sovereignty. Large European cities such as Copenhagen or Lyon have already turned their backs on the American giant Microsoft —from the services of Microsoft 365 Copilot to the operating system Windows— to adopt open source alternatives.
However, if one town stands out on that front, it is Barcelona. In early 2016, the arrival of There’s Colau and of the movement 15M al Barcelona City Council resulted in the activation of we decidea techno-political citizen participation project with global reach. The platform, initially lit in collaboration with Madridis used by 485 institutions and organizations in up to 32 countries. “We have the challenge of leading a great international alliance for a fair, democratic digital transformation at the service of the people. This is the battle we have to fight,” stressed Arnau Monterde, director of democratic participation and innovation at the Barcelona City Council, during the .
We have the challenge of leading a great international alliance for a fair, democratic digital transformation at the service of the people.
Despite the political change in the council, the Catalan capital is following the same course. At the end of October it became the first city in the world to publicly subscribe to the United Nationsa manifesto that defends the deployment of public and open infrastructure. The hosting of more and more conferences focused on rethinking the future of internet highlights the prominence of Barcelona on the scene open source.
From AI to chips
Eurostack embraces infrastructure sovereignty projects ranging from connectivity until the cloud computingthe artificial intelligence and the digital platformsareas in which the lack of strategic autonomy of the EU. And, while the US and China attract 52% and 40% of the financing of venture capital respectively, the 27 are left with only 5%. Furthermore, European companies represent around 7% of global spending on research. software and internet. “Digital sovereignty is expensive, but it is more expensive to depend on others,” warned the German chancellor. Friedrich Merzduring a recent summit with the French president, Emmanuel Macron.
An example of ‘Sargantana’, the new generation of open source chips developed in Barcelona. / BSC-CNS
Barcelona can also play a crucial role in the manufacturing of chips Europeans, vital for the development of frontier technology. Brussels has entrusted this strategic project to the Barcelona Supercomputing Center – National Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS), which will receive 200 million euros to be one of the seven factories of IA of Europe. In addition, Catalonia has chaired the Alliance of European Semiconductor Regions (ESRA) since last month. For Albert Cañigueral, manager of AI coordination and development at BSC-CNS, this effort will be transcendental for the future: “Sovereignty must be understood not as autarky, but as the ability for Europe to decide what technology it uses.”
Subscribe to continue reading
